Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus was featured in a New York Times cover story on “The Man Who Helped Redefine Campus Anti-Semitism.” The Brandeis Center’s K-12 anti-Semitism complaint against the Berkeley Unified School District continues to generate intense interest from national news media. And Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin shared the stage with New York Attorney General Letitia James and other experts at ADL’s Never Is Now conference to discuss legal efforts aimed at combating anti-Semitism. Kenneth Marcus in NYT: ‘The Man Who Helped Redefine Campus Anti-Semitism’ The New York Times published a page-one story on Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus titled “The Man Who Helped Redefine Campus Anti-Semitism.” The front-page feature takes readers through the LDB Founder and Chairman’s journey – inside government and out – “helping to clarify civil rights protections for Jewish students under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and broadening the definition of what can be considered anti-Semitic.” “He has also been an outside agitator, filing and promoting federal claims of harassment of Jews that he knows will garner media attention and put pressure on college administrators, students and faculty,” writes the Times. “The impact of his life’s work has never been more felt than in the last few months…” The article includes the LDB founder’s formulation of the “Marcus Doctrine,” which established protections for Jews, Muslims and Sikhs against discrimination based on national origin, including actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics – and notes that the U.S. Dept. of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has opened 89 new shared ancestry investigations since October 7. And it details his first-ever implementation of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism in a campus anti-Semitism case. “I’ve spent my career focused on this battle,” stated Marcus, “and it seems sometimes as if it’s all been leading up to this very moment.” CNN Interviews Students from LDB K-12 Case: Berkeley Unified School District “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” sat down with several Jewish students who have experienced anti-Semitic harassment within the Berkeley Unified School District public schools, where LDB recently filed a federal antidiscrimination complaint. Referring to one of the incidents mentioned in LDB’s complaint, one of the students told viewers: “During the walkout – I could hear it from my classroom – one of my friends came in and told me: ‘They were chanting ‘Fuck the Jews.’” Play CNN’s ‘The Lead with Jake Tapper’ segment on LDB complaint against BUSD – 3/18/24 videoTextBlockModalTitle × Your browser does not support the video tag. On NewsNation, Rachel Lerman Explains Nonstop Anti-Semitic Bullying and Harassment in Berkeley Unified School District Schools While speaking about LDB’s anti-Semitism complaint against BUSD on NewsNation’s “On Balance With Leland Vittert,” Brandeis Center General Counsel L. Rachel Lerman explained: “We’ve been working on college campuses for many years, and we’ve recently been looking at K-12 – and after October 7, honestly our phone just rang off the hook with parents calling us in distress about what’s going on in their children’s schools.” As Lerman stated: “The idea that 7-year-olds are asked to participate in this kind of condemnation of Israel, which they cannot possibly understand – and then placing that outside the Jewish teacher’s door – is just awful.” Play Rachel Lerman on NewsNation ‘On Balance with Leland Vittert’: Berkeley School Anti-Semitism Complaint videoTextBlockModalTitle × Your browser does not support the video tag. Alyza D. Lewin Tells ADL Never Is Now Audience About ‘Taking Anti-Semitism and Hate to Court’ Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin joined New York State Attorney General Letitia James and legal experts at the ADL and elsewhere for a conversation at ADL’s Never Is Now conference about how the legal system has become a battleground for addressing anti-Semitism, hate speech, discrimination and intolerance. Lewin discussed the complexities and challenges of tackling anti-Semitic hate in courtrooms and before government agencies and explained how the use of legal tools to protect the rights of Jews – like filing Title VI complaints – opens potential pathways towards a more inclusive and just society more broadly. Rachel Lerman Highlights the Wave of Anti-Semitism Directed at California’s K-12 Students Writing in The Jewish News of Northern California, LDB General Counsel L. Rachel Lerman detailed the deluge of inquiries the Brandeis Center began receiving from outraged and distraught parents in the Bay Area after the October 7 massacre. “Parents told us about second graders being directed to write ‘stop bombing babies’ on sticky notes and placing them on the door of their elementary school’s only Jewish teacher; teachers instructing students of all ages that Israelis are responsible for the massacre of their own families on October 7; and teachers encouraging middle and high school students to walk out during the school day to ‘march for Gaza’ without notice to parents or any of the usual safety protocols.’ Lerman highlighted projects from the Brandeis Center and partners to help besieged Jewish parents, teachers and students in California, such as a legal helpline for K-12 parents and a federal anti-Semitism complaint filed against the Berkeley Unified School District. She also provided background on pre-October 7 California legislation that contributed to the current strife. “The bottom line,” Lerman concluded, “is that Jewish students deserve an educational environment free from bullying, harassment and discrimination. California school administrators must enforce the state’s anti-discrimination laws. And for those who do not, California parents can report their children’s experience to civil rights legal advocates.” Kenneth Marcus Tells Jewish Insider: ‘There’s Been Anti-Semitic Bigotry [at] Columbia for Decades Now’ Following an announcement by Columbia University’s task force on anti-Semitism about new recommendations pertaining to rules for campus protesting, Jewish Insider turned to Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus for his insights in light of the longstanding hostile climate on Columbia’s campus. “The new recommendations have some technically good work which could provide incremental advances, but it’s certainly not the kind of thing that will solve Columbia’s problems,” Marcus declared. “The fact is that there’s been antisemitic bigotry [at] Columbia University for decades now.” “It’s not as if a few changes to the protest policies are going to substantially change the institution as long as they continue business as usual,” he continued. “Much of what’s in this new set of recommendations could have been written on Oct. 6 given everything that’s happened since. What’s needed is not a series of incremental measures, but a rethinking of what Columbia is doing to cause harm, not just to Jewish students but also to the surrounding community. These recommendations may lead to technical and marginal changes in the ways that the university responds to specific incidents, and generally speaking that’s a good thing.” “I know this is only one of the series of reports that we can anticipate, but if this is an indication of what’s to come, it may provide some useful professional iteration but not a truly substantial change,” Marcus stated. “It does not indicate a new mindset that is ready to deal with the problems Oct. 7 has revealed.” The article also mentions the Brandeis Center’s pending federal lawsuit against UC-Berkeley as well as LDB’s pending Department of Education complaints against American University, SUNY New Paltz, the University of Southern California, Brooklyn College, and the University of Illinois. LDB Holds Capitol Hill Policy Briefing on How Hamas Propaganda Impacts U.S. Students Hosted by U.S. Representative Virginia Foxx, the Brandeis Center held another Capitol Hill policy briefing March 26 titled “The Israel-Gaza War: How Hamas Propaganda Impacts American Students.” Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus delivered opening remarks, while LDB Senior Counsel Mark Goldfeder interviewed urban warfare expert John W. Spencer. Spencer is an award-winning scholar, professor, author, combat veteran, national security and military analyst, and internationally recognized expert and advisor on urban warfare, military strategy, and tactics. Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin provided final remarks. “Holding Jewish students responsible for Israel’s actions is blatantly anti-Semitic,” said Brandeis Center Director of Policy Education Emma Enig. “But it’s even worse when the charges against Israel are false. Why are students being forced to defend themselves against Hamas propaganda online and in the classroom?” Play LDB Capitol Hill Policy Briefing: ‘The Israel-Gaza War: How Hamas Propaganda Impacts American Students’ videoTextBlockModalTitle × Your browser does not support the video tag. Kenneth Marcus Contextualizes Alarming Survey Data on Jews Feeling ‘Unsafe’ on Campus Seventy-three percent of Jewish students reported feeling less safe on campus after the Oct. 7 attack, according to a joint ADL-Hillel survey released in November. Speaking to the Washington Examiner, Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus contextualized the hostile campus culture that has given rise to these feelings of unsafety for Jewish students, and explained what universities should do to address the situation. “Universities need to be both reactive and proactive. They need to respond to anti-Semitism with the same seriousness that they display when addressing other forms of discrimination. This means dismantling the two-tiered system under which microaggressions against other groups are fiercely resisted while even macroaggressions against Jewish students are minimized,” he said. Marcus explained that a “serious response” would require looking at the “deep cultural rot” on campus and identifying a number of programs sold as fostering inclusivity but instead result in only furthering the problem. “This means taking a hard look at the whole constellation of programs that are supposed to make colleges better and instead are making them worse: everything from DEI to anti-racist programming to critical race theory to liberated ethnic studies to post-Colonial curricula to the whole identity-industrial complex,” he said. Deena Margolies Discusses LDB’s Post-October 7 Title VI Cases with Students at Cardozo School of Law At an event hosted by LDB’s Cardozo Law Student Chapter, Brandeis Center Staff Attorney Deena Margolies discussed the Title VI cases that the Brandeis Center is actively litigating since the October 7 Hamas attacks . While the in-person event was open only to Cardozo School of Law students, the public was able to attend via Zoom.